You Get What You Pay For

We know that when children have strong social skills, by default their academic experience is more productive and positive. When you start with the heart you clear the road to the head. We need children to excel academically so that our future work force is strong and capable. My experience has been that there is less and less money for quality, outcome based after school programming. Just because the kids are in an after school program doesn't mean that the experience impacts them in a way that elicits a positive change. You can't throw a quarter at something that costs two dollars and expect to get two dollars worth. You get a quarter's worth less a nickel for the insult. It may take a village, but when the village is broke, hope moves out of town and despair moves in. No one flourishes in a town called despair except the predators.